The first question that comes to mind hearing about T2 Trainspotting, a 20-years-later sequel to Danny Boyle's now-classic adaptation of Irvine Welsh's book, is probably "is this necessary?" At a glance, the story of a group of heroin addicts screwing around, screwing up, and screwing each other over probably looks like one of the more misguided attempts to turn something with a bit of cultural cachet into a "franchise." Trainspotting doesn't need a sequel. However, Boyle and returning screenwriter John Hodge reframe the question by using the same nostalgia driving modern pop culture within the story instead of using it on the audience. T2 Trainspotting doesn't justify its existence by offering an "essential" extension of the story or characters; instead it uses the pop culture foundation of the original film to explore notions of aging and perspective (not to mention, the notion of sequels themselves).

Returning to Edinburgh after two decades away, Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) finds himself confronting his former friends Daniel "Spud" Murphy (Ewen Bremner) and Simon Williamson (Jonny Lee Miller) for the first time since he walked away with a 16,000-pound score that they and unhinged criminal Francis Begbie (Robert Carlyle) were meant to split four ways. Since then, Begbie has been in jail, Simon has started up his own business blackmailing public figures with footage from sessions with his escort girlfriend, Veronika (Anjela Nedyalkova), and Spud has remained addicted to heroin. Both men are ambivalent at Renton's sudden reappearance, but before long, the three are off and running on a plan to turn Simon's family's pub, the dilapidated "Port Sunshine", into a high-end brothel. Meanwhile, Begbie manages to break out of prison and heads back to his old stomping grounds, ready to slide back into his criminal lifestyle...where he may or may not find himself running into the man he blames for his incarceration.

The most essential piece of T2 Trainspotting is Hodge's screenplay, which weaves a path over and around the kinds of traps that other long-awaited reunions and revivals fall into. The most important one is his bridge across the quicksand created by the original film's legacy. Most follow-up films and TV are reverent to the legacy of their predecessors, trotting out references to the most memorable or popular moments with a gleeful nudge. Instead, Hodge uses callbacks to puncture rather than pander. There was a crowd-pleasing sweetness to the final shot of Trainspotting, in which it was revealed that Renton secretly left the relatively-innocent Spud his 4,000-pound share. When Renton brings this up as an example of loyalty, Spud angrily explains that he just blew the money on more smack. The original was bookended by a wry, sarcastic, and now iconic monologue in which Renton riffs on the "Choose life" anti-drug slogan from the 1980s. Here, his fresh attempt to recreate it for Veronika shifts from biting to bitter as he starts to catalog the disappointments in his life. A scene where the trio remembers their friend Tommy, who succumbed to AIDS in the original film, has Renton and Simon bitterly reminding one another of their darkest moments.

That said, T2 Trainspotting isn't depressing, either, just tempered: these sobering moments help give more weight to the characters' triumphs, especially when they do briefly manage to recapture the thrill of their reckless youths. The best example of this is a series of scenes where Renton and Simon infiltrate a meeting of Protestants celebrating a centuries-old victory over the Catholics, then ride the high of a successful score into an evening where they literally explain the past to a bemused Veronika, who makes fun of them in Bulgarian. Boyle's style follows a similar trajectory throughout, injecting the movie with a careful dose of the energy and creativity that defined not just Trainspotting, but his career as a filmmaker. It would be hard to miss his use of reflection, both literally (the characters are often seen as refracted off the glassy surfaces of the modern world), and metaphorically (the film contains a number of clever flashback sequences which employ doubles for the leads, both children and young men roughly the age of the characters in Trainspotting, using distance and voice-over to create an effective illusion). In one particularly stunning moment, Spud watches the Renton of Trainspotting run by right in front of him, as if the memory was alive.

The character of Spud is the final puzzle piece in T2 Trainspotting's subtle analysis of sequels. Spud's the one character who has changed the least since the events of the original through his ongoing addiction. Although the script resists as much as possible, there are times when even Hodge succumbs to "cute" instincts (say, Renton stumbling across a gross toilet in a club bathroom), and in the wrong hands, Spud's journey in this film -- which I won't say too much about -- could have been one of those elements. Instead, it not only helps support Boyle's use of the aforementioned flashbacks (including the use of a scene from the original novel, the one which gave the book its name), but also forms the backbone of the movie's thesis. At one point, Simon remarks to Renton, "You're a tourist in your own youth." More accurately, they're addicted to it, the thrill of reliving the past. The film's final shot is a perfect send-off: a full-force blast of the kind of nostalgia Boyle and Hodge have held back from the audience, with the not-so-subtle subtext that the impulse which drives both the characters and audience to want to experience in that familiar feeling is a regressive indulgence.

The Blu-ray
I'm not a huge fan of the poster they used for T2 Trainspotting's Blu-ray release, with the four main cast members looking directly into the camera (is it me, or does McGregor not look like himself at first glance?), but what can you do? The colors have been inverted for the home video version so that the backdrop is orange instead of white, as is the title. On the back, you get a picture from a specially-filmed teaser trailer that puts all four guys together, and the entire thing slides into a nice slipcover featuring glossy finish on the guys, and smooth matte finish for everything else. The one-disc release comes in an eco-friendly Vortex Blu-ray case, and there is an insert inside offering a UltraViolet Digital HD code.

The Video and Audio
As one expects with Danny Boyle, T2 Trainspotting is a visually stunning movie, and this 1.85:1 1080p AVC presentation of the movie really lives up to that beauty. The digital photography is rendered with excellent crispness and clarity on Sony's home video edition, with each vibrant color popping off the screen. Boyle and Anthony Dod Mantle's cinematography often sits to examine the actors' wrinkles and small hairs, as a sign of the characters' aging. These extreme close-ups are razor sharp, and the yet the film has a nice softness and graininess to other parts of its photography that evokes film even if the movie was definitely more modern. (The footage from Trainspotting that appears also looks incredible -- I wonder if the film got a new 4K master that will get its own release eventually.) Sequences that have been graded to look as if they were shot with different film stocks and in a different era also look fantastic, and while the occasional bit of ghosting appears in the image, it is part of the original photography. The disc is also armed with an excellent DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that bursts with as much energy as the picture, especially in presenting the movie's fantastic soundtrack, which invokes plenty of sense memory of the original with covers and instrumental versions of songs that are tied into the first film's legacy. Dialogue is well-balanced, and Boyle often uses little audio touches to help immerse the viewer into fantastical scenes, such as the brief moment where Renton and Simon imagine themselves on the soccer field.

For those of you who saw the film in its U.S. theatrical release, the first two scenes played with stylized subtitles integrated into the visuals, to help with Begbie and Spud's re-introductory dialogue. This Blu-ray presents the film without these captions. Instead, the disc offers a French DTS-HD MA 5.1 track, English and French audio description tracks, English captions for the deaf and hard of hearing, and English, French, and Spanish subtitles. Note that the English subtitles for the film are not entirely accurate, Americanizing words here and there, which is a disappointment. During the first scene, for example, "doss" is replaced by something else, I believe "dumb", and "cannae" is replaced by plain old "can not."

The Extras
The first extra is a so-so, laid-back audio commentary by director Danny Boyle and screenwriter John Hodge. Boyle and Hodge provide some information about the making of the film, including Hodge talking about the inspiration he drew from his own life and the people around him, Boyle explaining technical details and challenges of the shoot. They even mention the film's initial title, which didn't reference Trainspotting at all, as well as explaining the thought behind the film's current, odd title. However, there are some dead spots throughout this commentary and the pair taper off a bit as the film goes on.

Video features are equally "good but not great". First, there's "20 Years in the Making: A Conversation With Danny Boyle and the Cast" (24:49), which underwhelms a bit right off the bat with Ewen Bremner unavailable, off shooting a film (presumably Wonder Woman). In his place, the featurette jokingly includes a cardboard cutout of Bremner with occasional voice-over gags from the actor. It's a weird set-up. The featurette itself is nice, with Boyle and the other three reflecting on the original film's legacy, what it was like getting back into the role, and the pleasure of seeing it all come together. Miller is the least chatty, but perks up about halfway through. It's a good chat, but on the unstructured side. The next extra is not about the film, but is related: "Calton Athletic Documentary: Choosing Endorphins Over Addiction" (4:26) is a short documentary about the organization that served in an advisory capacity on both films, and which helps former addicts recover through sports. A nice little piece, and at least one of the participants can be glimpsed in the film itself. Finally, the headline extra is 30 minutes of deleted scenes (30:11), but frankly, Boyle is a smart editor. The bulk of this excised material is connective tissue that was rightfully cut when the filmmakers realized the audience was able to make the jump between one scene to another without being walked through each step, and only a couple are of minor interest, including running bits where Spud sees the circle of chairs from his support group and Begbie watches Supercasino on late-night television (both glimpsed once in the finished film), and Renton talking to Spud's ex, Gail. In theory, the most interesting would be two additional scenes where Renton ends up crashing with Gail after his parking garage encounter with Begbie, but as much as I wanted to see more of Diane, these scenes feel like an awkward ellipsis on something that was just right in the finished film.

Trailers for Spider-Man: Homecoming, Life, Rough Night, Underworld: Blood Wars, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, and Resident Evil: Vendetta play before the main menu. The same reel of trailers can be accessed again from the special features menu under "Previews." No trailer for T2 Trainspotting is included.

Conclusion
T2 Trainspotting is one of the best movies of the year, a surprisingly trenchant skewering of the very notion that Trainspotting needs a sequel, while also giving viewers a surprisingly potent dose of these beloved characters. Smart, funny, and stylish, this is a great movie worthy of standing next to Trainspotting on a film fan's shelf. The disc's supplements aren't that amazing, but the central presentation is all that matters. Highly recommended.